[The epidemiological aspect of chronic kidney lesions of drug origin]

In order to establish the prevalence of the intake of the most widely used nephrotropic drugs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents and analgesic-antipyretic drugs), the authors have carried out epidemiological studies among the urban population. 5996 persons living in Riga were examined according to the designed by the authors 4-staged system using computer at the final stage. All the examined underwent analysis of the morning portion of urine. The drugs indicated were discovered to be taken for a long time in 14% of cases (in 15.4 among women and in 11.8% among men). The use of the drugs was motivated by degenerative dystrophic alterations in the bones and joints (56.27%), complicated virus infections (9.68%), headache (2.99%), and by combination of the three enumerated causes (30.34%). In 0.72% of cases, the causes of drug intake could not be established. Depending on the presence of a concrete urinary symptom, a high relative and a high absolute risk of the development of chronic tubulointerstitial renal lesions provoked by drugs have been defined in cases of the prolonged use of the drugs under study.